Governor Jay Nixon met with Rams owner Stan Kroenke on Monday at Rams Park, multiple sources tell Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Kroenke is set to attend a key NFL owners meeting in Dallas on Tuesday, so the timing of the meeting is very interesting and could be an indication that Kroenke is warming up to staying in St. Louis rather than relocating to Los Angeles.
To Thomas’ knowledge, today’s powwow may be the first time that Kroenke and Nixon have met face-to-face on anything related to relocation to Los Angeles or the St. Louis stadium project. One source said that Kroenke wanted to make sure he had a “complete understanding of things” before he met with his colleagues in Texas. Ostensibly, the Rams owner was looking for an update on the current status of the St. Louis stadium plan and the financing of the stadium.
For months now, it has seemed that Kroenke is intent on taking his team back to Los Angeles, regardless of what the city of St. Louis might be able to offer. Recently, we learned that Kroenke was willing to “help” the Raiders and the Chargers reach deals with their respective host cities in an effort to take them out of the running for relocation to L.A. Meanwhile, people within the NFL expect the relocation fee to be $500MM+ for any team going to Los Angeles.
Dave Peacock, co-chair of the St. Louis stadium task force, was also at Rams park, though it’s not believed that he took part in the meeting, Thomas writes.
Kroenke is a business man and no dummy. He’s sitting in a prime position to leverage one city versus the other. He has St. Louis bending over to keep the team and Kroenke is doing what is smart by keeping his option open.